Saving Underland
by SarahSerendipidy-OliviaMaestro
Summary: Alice did remember. And when she had kids of her own, she told stories of Wonderland to them. However, her daughter Alex, doesn't believe her. And what happens when Alex is brought to Underland when the White Queens  now evil  husband returns?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

She hadn't kept her promise. She hadn't returned, like she said she would. She hadn't. She'd left, but she hadn't come back. She was late for tea… naughty.


	2. Carridgerides

**Chapter One:** Carriage rides

"Mother, do we HAVE to go." Alexandra Potts sat next to her little brother in the carriage. They were on their way to Hamish' wedding party. And she couldn't care less. She didn't care about Hamish and stupid Fiona. All she wanted to do was walk around London with Kat and Lou, her best friends. However, they were married now, to two charming gentlemen, a count and a baron, so they didn't have time Alex. Alex herself was not married. She didn't see the reason. She was perfectly fine on her own. However, her father, Charles Potts, was looking for men she could marry, but only the best were enough for his little princess… but Alex wasn't little anymore, at least in her eyes. She was almost eighteen; she could almost take care of herself. Almost decide for herself. Until then, she had to listen to her parents, who were dragging her to the wedding party for Hamish and stupid Fiona.

"Charles and I have been working for Lord Ascot for almost twenty years now; we owe it to come to his son's wedding... " Alice said.

"Now that you wouldn't marry him… " Charles joked, and recived an elbow in the stomach from Alice. Alex smiled. She had often wondered how her father could put up with Alice's strangeness. Her mother believed in... fairytales. Just like Tim did. Alice had told Alex and Tim stories of a place called Wonderland, since they had been little kids. She still told them for Tim, who believed in everything she told them. Ever since her infancy, Alex had heard about evil Queens, with big heads, talking cats and mad hatters. Impossible things. Things that was not real. And Alex believed in real things, things that you can touch and feel. That was the way to get by in this world.


	3. Festives

**Chapter Two:** Festives

Parties suck. Or, that one at least. Hamish and stupid Fiona were both snooty, and Hamish was bitter at Alice, for not choosing him. He'd gotten older now and even uglier.

Alex stood by a tree in lord Ascots garden, when she saw Tim running towards her. Oh god, she thought.

"Alexandra! Alexandra!" he yelled.

"Tim, " she said to him, when he came up to her. "How many times do I have to tell you this: Call me Alex. "

"A thousand and one times by now… " Tim said, looking down, put still smiling. He'd always been mad. "What are you doing. " She smiled at him.

"I'm about to play hide and seek with my lil'bro… " Alex said.

Tim beamed like a thousand suns. "Really?" he said, smiling. Alex smiled at him.

"Yes, you'll hide, and I'll seek.. " Alex smiled, thinking, that now she could get rid of him. She looked down at Tim, who was smiling. She closed her eyes, and began to count. "One, two, three, four… '' she heard Tim running, probably towards the rosegardens. "Five,six, seven, eight, nine, yeah, right.. " she said, opening her eyes. She looked around for Tim, but he was already out of sight. Finally, she sighed. And then she saw something peculiar. But no, it couldn't be. She had to think logically. But it really did look like… a rabbit in a waistcoat. He was looking at an old pocket-watch, with a panicked look at his face. Did he have to be somewhere? No… no… it wasn't real. She couldn't start believing it was. But it was there, right in front of her, and she could see it, it wasn't in her mind. Or at least she thought so. She walked towards the rabbit, but the he started walking the other way, so she began to run. And then he began to jump.

"Wait!" she yelled. "Come back here!". But that didn't help much, it only scared him more. So she started running faster. Now she could hear him mumbling words, such as: Oh dear, I'm so late, and: Have to get Alice down, have to get Alice down. But that couldn't be right.

Alex´ legs began to feel numb, as if she had been running for a long time, but she wouldn't slow down. She had to catch him, had to feel that he was there, that he wasn't at fragment of her imagination. And then she saw him jumping down a hole. She began to walk now, giving her legs a break. She then inspected the hole. She looked down. It didn't look that deep. And it was big enough for her, at least in the top. But if it got narrower, she could always crawl up. No… no, she couldn't possibly be thinking of crawling down the rabbit hole. That was something her mother would suggest. But why not? She didn't want to go back to the party, she didn't even want to be at that stupid party. So she rose, and jumped down the rabbit-hole.


	4. Down the Rabbithole

**Chapter three**: Down the rabbit-hole.

Everything flew by so quickly that Alex could hardly observe it all. Her first plan, about crawling down, had come to an end. Now she was just falling, only falling. She couldn't even see the top of the hole anymore. She now flew by pots and pans, and landed on a bookshelf, causing the books to fall down along with her. So now she was doing everything, so she wouldn't get hit in the head by massive books. The next things she saw were lamps. All kinds of lamps. They were all flying in the opposite direction of her. How did they do that? Paintings, was the next thing she saw. All paintings of different people, everyone so beautiful. She clutched to a vine, but she was slipping. She couldn't hold on, and she continued falling, and landed on a piano, and was almost hit by it, but then, it started falling slower. Well, slower than her. Now it was just random things flying by her, and before she knew it, she landed on a bed, and then everything was chaos.

Until she flew through the floor and landed on the… ceiling? Alex looked at the chandelier next to her, felt her hair fall up, and then she fell, again.

She looked around the room. How was it that this seemed oddly familiar to her? She walked over to the curtain, drew it aside, and looked at the door. Yes, just like in her mother's stories. She over looked at the table, in the middle of the room. She took the key on the table, and heard some voices mumbling from outside. "Hello?" she yelled, but there was no respond. She laid the key on the floor, and drank some of the liquid in the bottle on the table. And felt herself shrinking. She got a hold of her clothes, that was too big for her now. She took the key, and walked towards the door again. She put the key in the keyhole, and opened the door.

And walked out into a world of wonder. She looked around, as she started walking down the staircase. It was as if the land had just ended right there, and there only was one way out. She walked to a big, big gate and looked at another big, big gate, which was followed by… big, big gate. Flying toys and multicolored animals. And then she heard something.

"Alice!"


	5. Not Being Alice

**Chapther four**: Not being Alice

"She does look like her."

"But she couldn't be."

"She should look older."

"But she doesn't."

"But she does look like Alice."

"But she may not be."

"Stop it!" Alex yelled. "Stop arguing about whether I'm Alice or not. I can tell you, that I am Alex."

And then the group, the rabbit, a mouse, two bald twins and a dodo bird, smiled. "Alice."

"No, Alex.. " she corrected, but they just kept smiling.

"We'll take you to The Hatter right away." the rabbit said, took her hand, and jumped off, dragging her with him.

"Hey, I wanted to escort her." She heard one of the twins say.

"No, it was my turn." The other one said.

At some point she managed to escape from her welcoming-committee, if you could call them that, because they were not that welcoming. So now, Alex was kind of just wondering around on her own. This was a very strange dream, because it had to be a dream. Or perhaps she had fallen and hit her head… hard. She walked down a dark alley of strange trees, which shined turquoise. Then she felt someone - or something, which was most possibly down here – follow her. She turned around, but there was nothing. She looked around, shrugged it of, and kept walking, but that feeling wouldn't leave her. She turned around once again, saw nothing, looked straight forward, and was surprised, when she actually SAW something. A cat. With turquoise streaks. And a huge grin. "Let me guess… " she began. "Chessur, the Chesire Cat."

"Alice… " the cat said. Alex shook her head at him.

"No… no, I'm not Alice. I'm Alex, but no one down here seems to understand the difference."

"So.. you're not Alice?" the cat said. "But you know that I am Chessur, the Chesire Cat." Chessur smiled.

"I'm pretty sure you're all talking about my mother, Alice Potts. She used to tell me and my brother stories about a place called Wonderland, but characters a lot like the people I've seen down here."

"Wonderland, " Chessur said. "She's still calling it that. You see, Alex, this… is Underland. Anyone can make that mistake. Your mother called it Wonderland the first time she was here."

"The first time?" Alex asked. "You mean she was down… here… more than once?"

"I can take you the the Hare and the Hatter, but I can't take you any further. " Chessur said, disappearing. Alex looked for him, but he was nowhere to be found. What was that about taking her the the Hare and the Hatter. But then she heard him.

"Are you coming?"

And Alexandra Potts followed Chessur, the Chesire Cat to the Hare and the Hatter.


	6. The Madness that comes from making Hats

**Chapter five**: The Madness that comes from making Hats

She had followed Chessur to a clearing, and then he had disappeared once more, so she had to find the way the the Hare and the Hatter on her own. She hoped that they would know how to wake her up, because her mother's trick had not worked yet.

But now she could see something. An old mill, wrecked. A table, full of wrecked pottery. And a man and two animals.

"Come with me." Chessur had appeared behind her, and now he was flowing towards the mill. Alex looked over her shoulder. Seeing nothing to return to, she followed him.

When she came closer, she could hear the cutlery and the tea being poured through cups into cups. This was certainly madness.

She looked at the man. The man had orange hair, which looked like it had its own life. He had big, green, glowing eyes, that had already seen Chessur, and he smiled. She had never seen the Hare before, although he looked slightly like the rabbit. And then she got closer.

The man's eyes glowed even brighter as he saw Alex, and he tilted his head a little bit. "Alice?" he asked. Oh no, not this again. She didn't even want to answer it this time.

"You must be the Hatter." She smiled. He smiled, rose, walked onto the table, and towards her. Got she had gotten smaller, because he was enormous. She knelt down in front of her, and looked her in the eye, although one of his eyes looked slightly the other way. "So you do remember me?" he smiled.

She looked at him, sadly. "Actually."She looked at Chessur. "He made me remember you."

His smile went the other way. "You… you don't remember me… you said you could never forget me."

"I… I've never met you before. Only heard of you." she said, biting her lip. He sat down on the table, flipping his legs over the edge.

"Last… last time you said this was a dream… now you say you have only heard of me?"

She looked at him. "My mother has told me and my brother about you – and everyone else down here. But.. I'm afraid, I've forgotten most of the stories.". She held her hand out. "I'm Alex Potts.". He took her hand, and turned it around, looking for something, but when he didn't find anything, he let go off it.

"You're mother? So… you are not Alice… or what?"

She looked at her hand. "Um, no, I'm not Alice. I believe that I am her daughter."

He leaned closer and looked at her with his big eyes. "Does she remember me?" he said. Alex heard the Hare gasping for his breath.

Alex smiled, and nodded at him. "Yes she does." She looked at Hatter now. He threw her a big smile, so that she could see the gab behind his front teeth. He rose, and turned around to the others, grabbed the Hare by his paws and began swinging him around, and the Hare made a sound, that sounded a lot like: Weeeeee. When he was done, he looked at her again, smiling more brightly. Of course, instead of putting the Hare down, he just let him go, so he would fly through the air, flapping his arms. Hatter didn't take a notice of that, and just looked down at Alex.

"Alex Potts, would you like to have tea with us?" he asked. Alex looked around and shrugged.

"Sure… " she said. He took her hand, and lead her down the table, let go of her hand, and left her to stand on the table, while he sat down in his chair.

"Sit wherever you can't to sit… "

Alex looked around, at the broken teacups, sitting down on the table. She looked around, and her gaze landed directly at the Hare. "Tea?" he asked, and she accepted. And a cup of tea was poured for her. She heard the Hare singing: Tea, tea, tea, tea…

Alex looked at the teacup, which was the size of her. How the hell was she going to drink any of this? "Where's Mally?" she heard the Hatter ask. Alex looked at him, confused.

"Who's Mally?" she asked. He smiled brightly.

"Mallymkom… I'll bet my hat that you have met her." He leaned down towards her and whispered: "You just don't know it.", and smiled. She nodded, and the Hatter looked at her, curiously. "… Can you smile?" he asked. She looked at him and smiled.

"Yes, of course I know how to smile. It's one of my favorite pastimes." His grin got bigger.

"You have your mothers smile. Mally! You've met Alex, right." He looked at Alex. "Mally is an angry, little boy."

The mouse looked at Alex. "So that's your name… you're the one, that is not Alice. " she said. And Alex looked and her.

"That's only understanding, when my name's Alex." She said. The Hare shook the teapot.

"Not… Alice? What do you want in your tea…" he half mumbled, half said. Alex wanted to answer, but was interrupted by the Hatter.

"That's a peculiar size that you have." He said, and Alex looked down herself. Oh yeah, she had almost forgotten that she was not her usual size. But then she would looks at Mally, and see that they were the same height.

"Unfortunately, I do not have any Upelkuchen.. However… I can make you something a little more… exciting... " He said. "Out of what you're wearing.". He smiled.

Alex look at him. "Please do.. I hate these clothes.. " she said and looked down at herself.

He smiled… again. "I do have some pishsalver." He pulled out a little bottle with some yellow-ish liquid in it and offered it to her. "Drink."

Alex looked at the bottle. "I'm not drinking that."

The Hatter looked at something behind her and exclaimed "Oh!" and the Hare looked the same way. She turned, and looked the same way. The next thing she knew she was shrinking. She looked at the Hatter growing larger every second. He had FORCED her to drink that stuff. Forced HER. She usually forced people to do stuff.

He lifted her and put her into a teapot. She looked up and saw him smiling. "Alice used this as a dressing-room. It worked perfectly well. When you arrive at the White Queen, I can make you a new dress." He closed the lid and she heard something. Was that a scissor?

"The White Queen? So it's all real. Everything?" She bit her lip. "Damn… Tim was right."

"Of course it's all real. " she heard him say. Then he opened the lid and some fabric fell down over her. She pulled it away, and it was dark again. "And who's Tim?" she heard him ask.

"My little brother." She looked at the dress and shrugged. And started changing clothes. "He was… is… really into my mother's stories…"

"So? May I ask something?"

"Sure, ask away."She had changed clothes by now and was now putting her hair in a bun. And then there was light, and she was being pulled out of the teapot.

"Eh, it's fine..."He looked thoughtful. "Isn't Alex a boy's name? I mean, it's very lovely… just so I won't offend you at some point." He smiled... innocently.

"Yes, but Alexandra is a girl's name…" She smiled a bit. "Alex is a nickname."

"Aaaah." He smiled… again. "Anyway. We best be getting on. To the White Queen. Perhaps you're here to explain why everyone is disappearing for the time being." He looked thoughtful. "… I mean, not for him, Time, men why they disappear. Just.". He smiled.

Alex looked at him. "Times a person?". She thought a bit. "And people are disappearing?"

"Of course Times a person!". He pulled out his watch. "He's just two days late."She put away the watch. "Well, the only people who can disappear by own will is Chessur." He nodded towards the cat, who was only head and paws at the moment. He smiled back and waved his tail, which slowly appeared again.

"Okay?"

He leaned towards her. "Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?" He smiled.

Alex thought about that. "Can both have something to do with school? Some people think call their teacher a raven.." The Hare made a little sound.

"Raven? School?" (It sounded more like skuel, but anyway)

Hatter smiled. "Mmm…perhaps." He took of his hat and put it on the table. "Will you please… step onto the hat."

Alex looked at the Hatter. "A hat?"

He chuckled. "Alice looked at me that same way." He leaned in. "It's curious how much you to look like each other.". He leaned back out. "Anyway, the best way to travel is by hat. Ask Mally!"

The Chessire Cat smiled. "And it's very… fetch.". Hatter came him a look that said: Away. My hat! Alex rolled her eyes and looked at Mally, whom nodded.

"Can I come along this time?" she asked. The Hatter sighed.

"Fine…". The Hare looked lost.

"Whut? You're leaving me… alone?". Chessur appeared behind the Hare and said: "Of course", which made The Hare jump in surprise. Which resulted in tipping over the chair he was sitting on.

Mally smiled an hopped onto the hat. Alex looked around. "Is this a joke?"

The Hatter looked at Alex. "Why should it be a joke?"

"A hat." Alex said. "Is that… necessary? Anyway, I'll soon wake up… "

"You mean you wish to stay here... with these persons?.". Chessur smiled.

"Mmm… you could… disappear…".

Alex looked around and then up at the Hatter. "Might as well get the most out of this dream. " she said and jumped onto the hat. He put it on his head, and she and Mally had to hold onto it.

The Hatter began walking. "How can we make you understand, that this is not a dream?". He smiled.


End file.
